Gold Band
I was placed with the worst of the worst. (Last Line First)
The fall season was coming to an end, that meant only one thing for marching band students, concert season. There are two bands the upperclassmen must audition for during the concert season, symphony and purple concert band. Being a sophomore, I had to audition for one of the two bands. I was not interested in symphony band, because I know that is above my skill level. I wanted to try my best to make it into a good chair placing in purple band.
The day of the audition came and I was freaking out. The audition was two required pieces that are technique based, scales, pieces and parts of a symphonic song, and sight reading. I felt decently prepared to play for the head band director. I walked into the
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As soon as I shut the door all the noise outside the room had disappeared. The room was silent. I could feel my nerves coming, and I continuously wiped the sweat forming on my hands. My clarinet slipping from my grip from all the nerves. (Imagery) She asked me to play two scales, which I did perfectly fine on. Then I went to the required pieces and I started playing and then I messed up onenote and I felt crushed. I heard myself play the wrong note and immediately knew I was going to be placed in a bad chair. It threw me off my concentration and my nerves were getting the best of me. My hands were shaking like crazy. She kept telling me to just breathe (Motif) to calm down. I finished through those, and then went to the difficult piece that made me the most nervous. She could pick any part in the music and ask me to play it, I had to be prepared for any section she ask. To my surprise, she said I could choose a part I felt confident about. I began to play a part my lesson teacher and I worked on, but right when I started I already knew I messed the rhythm up and my counting was all off from nerves. I could not read her face to her reaction to what I was playing, she just kept writing things
Payne, B. (1997). A review of research on band competition. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 33(1), 1-21.
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
One of the biggest decisions of my high school career came my sophomore year when I decided to try out for the role of drum major in my high school band. This decision was very tough to make due to the fact that I was a sophomore, and although I already had three years of experience under my belt as a band member at Northview High School, I knew that it would be very tough to earn the respect of my peers if I succeeded in becoming drum major. Out of the three years I had spent in the band, the biggest influence on my decision to try out came from my very first marching season, between August and December of 2012. From that year forward, after seeing many areas that the band could improve, watching how underclassmen and middle school band members
It is about who I am off the podium. For the past five years (I marched up as an 8th grader), I have been proving something to these people, so that they trust me in this position. The character of drum major or leader is one I have been perfecting since I was a freshman. For a long time I was just an actor trying to be a character. Eventually, I had acted the part so much that I became it, and it was my role. I give respect to receive it. I build real relationships of with members to achieve trust, accountability, and effort. When people are torn up inside because of their home life, which is quite frequent in Lenoir City Tennessee, I am their shoulder to cry on, or a set of ears to vent to, or a buffer to dull their anger. When people are frustrated with me for some reason, I seek them out and learn what I can do different. When there are five flavors of gum stuck to the floor of the band room at 11:30 on a Friday night, I get on my knees with a plastic fork and start scraping. When the band director constantly yells at me for this that and the other, I take into account the criticisms and practice harder. The band and the director see this character I have transformed into, or maybe the one I have always been, and that is why I have the honor of standing on the podium and wearing the gloves. I have become the band’s teacher, nurse, cattle driver, answer dispenser, and friend. Somehow, those all add up to leader. I refuse to let them down, rather I lift them
Music has always been one of things I excelled in. In elementary school it was required to be in music but second in 5th grade you have the option to be in band. I was in band for 6 years before I stopped and I went to 5 honor bands. I played tenor saxophone and was 2nd chair all six years. Jazz band was something we had in middle school and high school. We had 2 jazz bands in middle school. Jazz one was for 8th graders and jazz two was 7th grade. I played in both. My first year I played tenor 1 and 2 and the second year I played baritone saxophone. My 9th grade year I played only tenor one. We didn’t have to audition but the students who plays that instrument normally would have first say in who gets 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd part. That
I have played an intrinsic role in my school’s band and orchestra department through helping organizing performances, teaching classes, and tutoring individuals. On a regular basis, I am responsible for directing and teaching classes including beginning band, with grades ranging from fourth to twelfth, and more advanced ensembles like concert band and marching band. I also play an important role in their performances sometimes by directing and other times by contacting venues to organize dates and times for the shows. I also dedicate time during the week to help beginning players
Madsen, Clifford K., David S. Plack, and D. Patrick Dunnigan. “Marching Band As A Recruiting Organization for the University: A Case Study.” Journal of Band Research 43.1 (2007): 54-62. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
What changed my life the most was probably band. I've been in band for about 3 or 4 years now,and I really enjoy it. Band has helped me out in a lot of ways and will continue helping me until I no longer need help. In band, originally I wanted to be a percussionists like my older brother but they told me I was quite good on trumpet, so naturally I chose trumpet. I still play trumpet along with horn,baritone,etc..
While I'd love to write a four page essay on all of my positive attributes and why I can be a positive addition to band leadership; I'm going to narrow it down to three key points that clearly show my success in the band program. I’ve looked forward to demonstrating my will to become a part of the band leadership program since the end of freshman year; wanting to prove how much i've learned throughout my participation in the color guard. Starting with my dedication to the whole band program, will to improve my all around skills through the band, and ending with the fact that the guard has evolved tremendously throughout my highschool years in a positive way.
I loved playing famous marches and preludes by Bach, Beethoven, or even John Adams. I'm always eager to immerse myself into the diverse and complex music that concert season holds and see what new challenges await me, whether it be all region, playing in another band, auditioning for an honor band, or auditioning for concert solos. Playing in a professional orchestra can take upwards of ten years of music education and most music students can only dream of playing in one someday, but I have already had the opportunity and pleasure of doing so. The JROTC group at my school hosted an event where the National Air Force Band would come and perform in our auditorium with a select five or six students from our high school band, handpicked by the director of the National Air Force Band director, to play with them during one of their songs, and I happened to be one of those lucky students. This would be my first time playing with a professional band and I was so excited, I could hardly contain the huge grin on my face the whole time I was on stage.We played our song and were given a certificate that stated that we were apart of the National Air Force Band. We
As I dart through "the desert" in the last game of the day, with only
Earlier on I had mentioned that I did not immediately consider myself for this position. One of the items that changed this is learning that the Drum Major is able to march with the band this coming year. I feel that by doing so, I would be viewed as a part of the band, and not just the kid on the podium. This is a very
At this moment I was not in fear nor panic but the entire class watching me forcefully challenge this girl to a first name writing contest. My brain couldn 't handle everything that was going on after the teacher said go. This is where things get interesting. For me when thoughts and things run alot faster in my head than my muscle and body can comprehend.Well my brain finished about four or three letters before me and samantha 's hands. So as I was saying, the race started and I wrote the letter R. After thinking about how i could write the letter as neat and fast enough to flow into the lower case a. As I write the a I look back at my R in disgust yet still moving on to the s. In the transition from the a to the s, I didn’t just stare back in disgust of the R, I begin to question the situation I 'm in. Still trying to race a girl in a first name writing contest I find myself mind and my muscle movements separate from one another. My hand slows down at the letter h but my mind races and spins through the room without my eyes even looking up. Hearing the the voices I assume I gave my mind an idea of facial expressions and audience placement. At the end of the long line of my classmates, I hear my teacher not saying a word but
The Derby High School jazz band was observed as a social group throughout the course of a month. This group consisted of just under 30 people, and all students were chosen to enroll the class upon request of the instructor. A majority of the students were musically advanced and had already been playing for several years. This group was picked to be observed due to the constant stress that students go through and the variety of tasks that were asked of the students.
I got up early that morning due to an improper sleep during the previous night. It was due to the anxiety to start fresh with my new life. I was determined to be the best in whatever it is that I do, so that I would have something to be proud of in the pages of my life. Due to the fear of reaching late during my first day, I reached one hour earlier than necessary and decided to spend some time at KTC (Kelapa gading Trade Center) which is located right beside the University. I was hoping that time would move a lot faster because I wanted to find out about what was going to happen next. But it is a common fact that if we are anxiously waiting for something, time would seem to crawl a lot slower. When it was finally the time to head back to the campus, I hoped for everything to go on smoothly, just as how I expected it. I braced myself and went to meet Sofia, who was responsible for the new students, to inquire about my classroom. After being instructed on which room to go to, I started walking towards the class, the mixture of excitement and nervousness start to fill within me. I started to feel like standard 1 all over again where I was a little kid who didn’,t know where to go. I didn’,t know anyone in the class except for Diksha who is my childhood friend.